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IRRESISTIBLE 




Tine FOR MAS TE R ! 





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VALENTINE TO MISSY RUTH 

At night I like to sit and watch 
The moon and dipper too, 

And see the cars go flashing by, 
And think of life and you. 











tDoddj MrS i klxtlig 




AND now l . 



BY WEIMPY 


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COPYRIGHT 1033 
BY RUTH AND LORING DODO 



PLEASE 1 


PRINTED IN U.S.A. 



ftPRll 1933 Y 


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©Cl A 613 41 



THIS IS THE brief story of the inter¬ 
rupted PUPPYHOOD OF A LITTLE COCKER 
SPANIEL NAKED BY TWO LOVERS OF BARRIE 
AFTER A WELL KNOWN HEROINE OF HIS. 
THE DRAWINGS, WITH VERY FEW EXCEP¬ 
TIONS, ARE SKETCHES FROM LIFE AND ONLY 

Incidentally illustrate the verses. 

RUTH AND LOR1NGDODD WORCESTER , MASS . 

10 3 3 


W i.) 



POSTURES 


“Out!” 

Front 
end paper 

1 am a very quiet puppy 

32 

Irresistible 

Please lemme in! 

34 

Time for master 

Scottie 

36 

Cat-Nap 


4 

What’s this? 

38 

Call it a Day 


y 

Mendicant 

40 

Huh? 


6 

Steam-shovel 

42 

List’nin’ 


8 

Catch me if you can! 

44 

What’s that? 


10 

Watchful waiting 

46 

Please, a crumb from my 


“Stop thief!” 

48 

master’s table! 


12 

Making no bones of it 

50 

Investigation 


14 

That bird! 

52 

Do I quite understand? 

16 

Guess what I’m doing 

54 

Does this mean we are going 


Got him! 

56 

out? 


18 

Cracker! 

58 

Hope 


20 

Timidity 

60 

Who’s cornin’? 


22 

Nosin’ 

62 

Jus’ thinkin’ 


24 

Calm 

64 

What shall 1 do next? 

I haven’t done anything! 

26 

28 

Worship ] 

Surrender 

Rear 

Seein’ the world 


30 

Airplane express en P a P er 



A CAT-NAP 

[ 4 ] 




THOUGHTS 


Tedium 

7 

Scottie 

37 

Desolation 

9 

Practice 

39 

Puppy Plaint 

11 

The Portrait 

41 

System 

13 

Springtime for Wendy 

43 

Fear 

15 

Attention, Please! 

45 

Cellar-bration 

17 

When They Go Out 

47 

A Walk 

19 

New Kid Gloves 

49 

Loneliness 

21 

Despot 

51 

Waggery 

23 

In and Out 

53 

For Ever 

25 

Won by a Lap 

55 

Restriction 

27 

Civilization 

57 

Discipline 

29 

Hunger Song 

59 

Courage 

/ 31 

Dramatics 

61 

Bath 

33 

Nose to the Ground 

63 

Art 

35 

Prophecy 

65 



CALL IT A DAY" 


[ 5 ] 




[ 6 ] 


TEDIUM 


I wonder why I mayn’t eat coal 
Or gnaw a splintery stick 
Or chew the mail the postman brings — 
It wasn’t that that made me sick! 

Why won’t They bounce my ball for me 
As often as I want Them to? 

A little puppy lonely gets 

With nothing all day long to do! 


[ 7 ] 



[ 8 ] 


DESOLATION 


One winter’s night when They went out 
And left me all alone 
They put a cookie by my bed 
As if that would atone. 

But when I’m sad I cannot eat, 

And there the cookie lay 
Until They came back home again, 
Then I swallowed it whole — hooray! 


[ 9 ] 


/ 


/ ^ } 
w 


'f 


/ 



what’s that 


[ 10 ] 



PUPPY PLAINT 


I want to pull electric cords 
And see swift darkness drop, 

I like the chewy ends of rugs 
But all They say is, “Stop/' 

I like to nip at moving heels 
And dig where flowers grow 
Or bring a greasy bone indoors 
But all They say is, “No.” 

If all my puppy passions are 
Thus subject to repression, 
However shall I reach, I ask, 

The heights of self-expression! 



PLEASE , A CRUMB 

FROM MY MASTER’S 


[ 12 


table ! 

] 




SYSTEM 


At night I slowly walk upstairs 
And on the landing stand 
And growl for Them to come to bed — 

They never understand! 

Mornings I patter down the stairs, 

Straight to the table go 
And growl, “It’s long past breakfast-time" 
They never seem to know! 

How can a puppy be content 
Till things are snug at night 
Or ever happy till the day 
With breakfast starts aright? 

Besides until Their breakfast’s done 
I never get a bite! 



INVESTIGATION 


FEAR 


Sometimes when I am curled in sleep 
There comes a sudden sound 
And startled I raise up my head 
And fearfully gaze round. 

But oh, 1 feel so safe at once 
And gone is all my fright 
When Master says, ‘‘Go back to sleep, 
Pup, everything’s all right.” 


* 

\ 


r 





DO I QUITE 

UNDERSTAND 


o 


[ 16 ] 


CELLAR-BRATION 


Each night before we start for bed 
My master goes downstairs 
And piles the furnace high with coal 
Against the chill night airs. 

And always I go with him for 
I know he’d frightened be — 

A cellar’s such a spooky place — 

If it were not for me! 




DOES THIS 
WE ARE 


MEAN 

GOING OUT? 


[ 18 ] 


A WALK 


Please take me for a walk. 

1 want to run and play, 

A walk is such adventure 
In an idle puppy's day. 

The bore of lying round 
Only a walk dispels, 

And oh, the dogs and people, 

And oh, the strange new smells 


[ 19 ] 


HOPE 



[ 20 ] 


LONELINESS 


Whenever They’re away from home 
How lonely is my day! 

Why can't They be content like me 
Just in the yard to play? 

And why must They go out at night 
I wish that They could see 
How still an empty house becomes 
With no one home but me! 



[22 J 


WAGGERY 


When callers come I am so glad, 

The gladdest dog in town, 

I leap and jump in ecstasy — 

To hear, “Down, puppy, down/' 

When I would give a lappy kiss, 

There come the quick commands, 

“No, no. Give me your paw, doggy. 

Shake hands — like this — shake hands/' 

When humans make dogs act like them 
They set nature's laws agog: 

Cold human ways are best for them 
But frisky ways for a dog! 


[ 23 ] 


JUS’ 



[ 24 ] 


FOR EVER? 


Partings, I think, are very sad: 

When my folks go away 
How can a little puppy know 
They have not gone to stay? 


/ 


[ 25 ] 


WHAT SHALL I 
DO NEXT? 





[ 26 ] 


RESTRICTION 


I have, I know, a pretty yard 
In which to romp and play 
But hedge and fence enclose it 
And out I may not stray. 

The other dogs peer in at me, 

I want them so to stay 
But when they find the gate is shut 
They quickly turn away. 

I know that dog-thieves lurk outside, 
And speeding motors slay. 

Still if one has no playmates, oh, 

How very long each day! 


9 


[ 27 ] 



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[28 1 


DISCIPLINE 


Please never whip a little dog, 
Reproof is quite enough, 

I cannot bear unfriendly eyes, 

A kindly voice grown gruff. 

I am so very much ashamed 
When I have done amiss, 

I want so much to make amends — 
Please take this timid kiss. 

If humans felt as bad as dogs 
When they commit some sin, 

How heavenly this world would be 
To spend a lifetime in! 


[ 29 ] 




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SEElIN 3 THE WORLD 


[ 30 ] 



COURAGE 


At dogs and people I don’t like 

1 bark with all my might and main 
When they pass through our street and I — 
Am safe behind the window-pane! 

/ 

Or if a stranger rings the bell 
1 seek the door all unafraid 
And bristling growl ferociously — 

Behind my mistress or the maid! 

But please don’t laugh, so many fears 
Beset a little puppy’s heart, 

All strange new sights and sudden sounds — 
My master’s sneeze gives me a start! 




r AM A VERY q.U!ET PUPPY 
[ 32 ] 


BATH 


I think a bath a silly thing, 

A waste of time and soap: 

I had my first bath yesterday — 

It is my last, I hope. 

For what avail the water warm, 
The scrub-brush and the sud — 
The butcher brings a greasy bone, 
And now there’s vernal mud! 


[ 33 ] 



\ 



[ 34 ] 




ART 


I press against the window-pane 
And at the passers stare 
And when I turn this way and that 
My nose leaves smudges there. 

They look, my mistress says, like clouds, 
Like birds, like trees, like men, 

And Lm an artist with the nose 
Instead of brush or pen! 

But master says that what he sees 
Is just an empty scrawl, 

And if I am an artist, why, 

Lm modernist — that’s all! 


[ 35 ] 




[ 36 ] 

















SCOTT IE 


I had a little doggie friend, 

Short-legged, black and gray 

Who through the palings poked his nose 
To greet me every day. 

To-night the papers say you’re lost — 

I wonder where you are! 

And oh, I hope you had no pain 
If run down by a car! 

Or if some one has stolen you 
I hope that he is kind 

To you who had such gentle ways 
And such a loyal mind! 

But I shall watch the fence each day 
To see your nose poke through, 

I can’t believe you won’t come back — 

I do so want you to! 


[ 37 ] 




3 

WH ATS THl S ? 


[ 38 ] 



PRACTICE 


I never yet have caught a cat, 
I’ve only barked at one 
That sits for hours stupidly 
Just basking in the sun. 

But once before the folks awoke 
1 softly slipped down stair 
And from a vase I ate up all 
The pussy-willows there! 


[ 39 ] 



[ 40 ] 



THE PORTRAIT 


I went into a stranger’s house 
And there upon the wall 

There hung, life-size, an ancestor 
I did not like at all. 

He stared at me, I stared at him, 

I growled and then I barked 

But that I strongly disapproved 
He never once remarked. 

He never spoke or moved an inch — 
Which wakened my distrust. 

'Too dumb to be alive,” I said 
And left him in disgust! 






[ 42 ] 


SPRINGTIME FOR WENDY 


This is the time of year when in 
Our garden can be found 
Those luscious, chewy, tasty things 
That push up through the ground. 

You first bite off the tender tops 
And then you dig and dig 
Until you reach the bulbs below, 

So juicy, round and big! 

Oh hyacinths and daffodils, 

Of whom the poets sing, 

You are for me, par excellence, 

The salad of the spring! 

And when I am so happy, 

Is it not most unfair 
That at the door I am met with 
A cold and threatening stare! 


[ 43 ] 





CATCH ME IP YOU CAN 1 


[ 44 ] 


ATTENTION, PLEASE! 


I like attention and I like 
It nearly all the time: 

I want Them to play ball and romp 
And motoring’s sublime! 

But often They just sit and talk 
Or sit and read or write; 

They say I should amuse myself — 
I ask, is that polite? 

I’m bored and grab a pencil or 
A glove or handkerchief: 

They start for me and off I run, 

A wide-eyed, waggish thief! 

And round and round I madly go 
As madly They pursue: 

And do I get attention — oh, 

Red cockers, but I do! 


[ 45 ] 



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7 


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watchful wait r ng 


[ 46 ] 



WHEN THEY GO OUT 


When They go out 
And I am left alone 
1 do not care to play 
With rubber ball or bone. 

All I do is watch 
Just inside the door 
Listening so intently 
For the steps that I adore. 

And when at last They come 
1 dance and leap with glee 
And kiss their dear, dear faces 
As they bend down to me. 


[ 47 ] 



[ 48 ] 




NEW KID GLOVES 

The thing I like the best to chew 
Is a kid glove when fresh and new. 

I grab one every chance I get 
And soon it’s nice and soft and wet. 

But sometimes master on the run 
Comes after me, seeing not the fun, 

And when he's chased me all about 
He gives a sharp and sudden shout. 
Demure I stop and act afraid, 

So peace is on the instant made, 

The glove returned, Eve paid my debt 
And once again am master’s pet. 


[ 49 ] 



making no bomets OF IT 


[ 50 ] 



DESPOT 


Often when master wants to read 
I feel that I must intercede 
And see that he has fun and play 
And not keep working all the day. 

Not always does he understand 
And so I pull and bite his hand 
Until he throws his book aside 
And takes me for a walk or ride. 




I HAT 


Bird 


[ 52 ] 


IN AND OUT 


In and out, in and out, 

All day long I go, 
Running in and out of doors, 
Leaving tracks on polished floors, 
In and out I go. 

« 

In and out, in and out, 
Racing wildly all about, 
Missy's looks were not devout 
Last time I asked her to go out, 
But in and out I go. 

In and out, in and out, 

In snow or sleet or rain, 

Just to run and jump and bark 
And then come in again. 

In and out, in and out, 

And surely it's no sin 
To ask Them all day long 
To let you out and in? 


[ 53 ] 




c 


✓ <7 


•A 


GUESS 


WHAT l' 


[ 54 ] 


DOING 


WON BY A LAP 


I know that human beings think 
That kisses love imply, 

But I have learned they’re coins as well 
That many things will buy. 

Whenever I want something and 
My pleas have been dismissed, 

I try those soft warm laps of tongue, 
And then They can’t resist! 

A kiss is good for tit-bits or 
A walk or even ride, 

It’s useful for apology 
If They’re about to chide. 

And when you have been guilty 
Of some disastrous prank, 

If you can kiss quite fast enough 
You may escape a spank! 


[55] 


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GOT HIM 1 . 


[56] 


CIVILIZATION 


One day my master went down town 
And took me with him too: 

It was a frantic, hectic place 
Where all things were askew. 

The trolleys went clank-clank, gong-gong, 
The trucks rode rattlety-bang, 

The autos shrieked, “Make way, make way \” 
Loudspeakers roared and sang. 

The people rushed this way and that, 

I felt so very small 

Among the many moving legs 
Attached to giants all! 

For once I liked to be on leash, 

I did not care to roam, 

And oh, how glad a puppy was 
To get back safely home! 



C R. A C K E ft. 


[58] 



HUNGER SONG 


I do not get enough to eat — 

They are afraid I may grow fat, 

They want to keep me graceful, slim, 

As if I cared at all for that! 

1 do not get enough to eat — 

It makes my breast with anger swell 
To hear Them say complacently, 

“A hungry dog is always well.” 

They are not slim, They are not well, 
They do not practice what They preach: 
They sit at table by the hour. 

With mounds of food within Their reach — 
Just mounds of food within Their reach 


[59] 





TIMIDITY 


[60] 


DRAMATICS 


Whenever They step on my tail 
Or tread upon my toes, 

I act as though this world of ours 
Were weighted deep with woes. 

My ears droop down, my eyes grow sad, 
My tail's between my legs, 

Dejectedly I sit as each 
Offender pardon begs. 

I am not really hurt at all 
But I have learned, you see, 

That if I overact the part 
I get more sympathy. 

And sympathy means hugs and pats, 

A squeeze and then a kiss: 

An accident is not half bad 
With '‘damages" like this! 



nosin’ 


[62] 


NOSE TO THE GROUND 


Nose to the ground, nose to the ground, 

That is the way I like to go round, 

For oh, the wonderful smells you get, 

As fresh as paint that still is wet, 

A hundred tracks each as distinct 
As lines on paper broadly inked. 

These tracks here are of course my own, 

These the grocer’s who brings me a bone, 
Here’s where the postman crossed the street. 
Here went a cat on sly velvet feet, 

These are the milkman’s who comes at dawn. 
These the college boy’s who cuts the lawn, 

Here are the paper boy’s, and these 
The laundryman’s who loves to tease. 

These are the guests’ who just went away, 
Here are the callers’ who came yesterday. 

Here is my master’s heavy tread, 

Here the light feet of my mistress sped. 

Smells in the kitchen, smells on the stair, 

Life is a glory of smells everywhere. 

Nose to the ground, nose to the ground. 

That is the adventurous way to go round, 
That is the only way to go round. 

And each new place a puppy goes, 

Oh, what delights for a puppy’s nose! 


[63] 



CALM 


[64] 


PROPHECY 


I never mean to be naughty, 

It is only my puppy way, 

All that I am trying to do 
Is just indulge in play. 

I never mean to be naughty, 

Em sorry to displease, 

Exactly like human beings 
I only want to tease. 

Some day when I am old and gray 
And shaky in the knees, 

You’ll give worlds to have me play 
And worlds to have me tease! 


[ 65 ] 


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[ 66 ] 



WO R5H I P 




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THE AIRPLANE 


EXPRESS 


LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 


1 

11 

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0 012 383 659 5 *' 







Call it a BAf 































